


Retaining the Magic

by BlackBlood1872



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Parselmouth Ginny Weasley, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27812857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBlood1872/pseuds/BlackBlood1872
Summary: Ginnyhatedsnakes. Not entirely because of the Chamber and her hellish first year at Hogwarts, or the fact that snakes were commonly associated with Dark wizards.No, she disliked them for much the same reasonHarrydid.She didn't like hearing themspeak.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Retaining the Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Posted on Nov 30 2020, but I'm backdating this to hide it :) Enjoy :)  
>  **Bold text** for Parseltongue.

She _hated_ snakes.

Okay, that wasn't quite true. Ginny Weasley was _wary_ of snakes. Ever since her disastrous first year at Hogwarts, snakes scared her to the point that when she was near them, she veritably trembled.

(She'd never been happier to have talked the Hat out of Slytherin.)

Now, she let the populous believe that her fear came from the traumatic events in the Chamber of Secrets. But that wasn't quite right either.

The Chamber played its part, but the real reason she avoided snakes was, she found, much the same reason _Harry_ did.

She didn't like hearing them _speak_.

* * *

By the end of the war, it was common knowledge that Harry was a Parselmouth. It was also less common knowledge that when he faced Voldemort for the last time, that ability disappeared. Or so everyone thought.

Ginny believed differently.

She knew how much the Dark Lord's soul affected a person. She'd only been possessed randomly over the course of one year. She had been eleven and more developed than little baby Harry, but still affected by Tom speaking Parseltongue through her. She could still speak it, even with him dead and finally gone.

So it was obvious that, while Harry tried to hide it, he still had the ability. His scar had held a piece of the Dark Lord's soul for _years_ , ever since he'd been small, when he was still developing. He grew into the language and had used it during his childhood and that wasn't something that went away when the source disappeared.

Harry was still a Parselmouth, and Ginny was the only one who knew.

* * *

After the war, Harry spent the vast majority of his free time at the Burrow. He tried to protest, citing how bothersome he was being, how he had his own house in the form of Grimmauld Place, but Molly would have none of it. He was as big a part of the family as any of her natural children and she _would not_ have him living in that depressing house more than he had to.

(Privately, Harry told Ginny how thankful he was for Molly's stubbornness. He didn't like Sirius' old house either, even with Kreacher gone.)

So Ginny saw him a lot, could observe him in a fashion not unlike the one she had when she was young. This time was different because she knew him better, knew what to look for when Harry shut himself off from the rest of the Weasleys. She could cheer him up, and be the shoulder he leaned on (never cried; he rarely cried and never around anyone alive). Because she knew what to say; she knew what soft words would get through to him because he himself had said them to her when she broke down, memories of the Chamber swamping her on the darkest nights.

That she was his girlfriend helped, she liked to think.

But there was always a slight wall between them. Ginny could see it as if it were physical; knew the reason Harry sometimes got nervous around her when they were alone in the garden. Because she could hear them too and neither of them were ready for that to come to light.

Until she brought it up, unwavering, on one of his rare weeks of forced leave from the Auror corps.

(He overworked himself. She told him that, all the time, but he only ever listened when he was forced on pain of death to not show his face at the Ministry during his break. Ginny knew that, secretly, he was relieved.)

"Harry," Ginny started gently, looping her arm through his as they sat against their favoured tree behind the Burrow. He looked at her and she thinned her lips as she stared back. "You can't hide it forever."

Harry froze, but didn't try to untangle himself from her. He knew it wouldn't work. He still scowled, looking away from her and levelling a glare towards the house.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," he muttered, avoiding her gaze even as he winced. She was all but crushing his hand with hers.

"Yes you do," she ground out, letting go of his hand to physically make him look at her. "We both know you're still a Parselmouth. That kind of thing doesn't just disappear."

"Yes it does!" Harry argued, almost hysterically, and she shook his arm.

"No it doesn't!" she growled, then leaned closer, fire still burning in her eyes even as she lowered her voice. **"Otherwise, why can I still do this?"** she hissed.

Harry's eyes widened and he stared at her, frozen. A moment later he slumped in her grasp. She released his chin, but reached for his hand again. She stayed silent as Harry fought to breathe, closing his eyes as he took deep breaths.

"Why?" he whispered finally, green eyes reflecting pain when he looked up. She didn't quite know what he was asking. Why did he still have it? Why could _she_ speak it? Why hadn't she ever told him?

"He possessed me too long," she told him quietly. "He spoke with my voice, and my body remembered. I knew it when he was there and I couldn't forget. It's a magical language, remember? Anyone who learns it never forgets. Bill's never forgotten Gobbledegook, even though he hasn't reviewed it in years. That's how it works."

"And I had it so long," Harry continued for her, eyes closed again, "that even if it were possible to forget, I couldn't." He leaned on her, burying his face in her shoulder. She wrapped her free arm around him.

"No, you can't. But I can't either, so you're not alone," she told him before falling silent. She didn't need to say more, not really. Harry just needed that, needed to know that someone understood and would stay with him. And she would stay with him, no matter what.

They stayed like that for an hour, Ginny rubbing his back as Harry soaked up all the comfort he could. When he finally pulled away, he looked better—a little less stressed, a little less closed off than before.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Ginny just smiled.


End file.
